Toronto Raptors hold off late rally to defeat Dallas Mavericks

Toronto guard DeMar DeRozan scored a game-high 28 points and the Raptors held off a late rally to beat visiting Dallas 103-99 in an NBA thriller.

Raptors guard Kyle Lowry added 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists while center Bismack Biyombo scored nine points and grabbed a career-best 20 rebounds and Luis Scola added 15 points and nine rebounds for Toronto.

"They all came up big," DeRozan said. "We needed everybody tonight."

The Raptors never trailed, up by as many as 18 points in the first quarter and well ahead when the Mavericks brought in a reserve unit with barely five minutes remaining.

The Mavericks battled back and trailed by only two points with 11.6 seconds to play on a Jeremy Evans layup, but Evans missed a free throw and Toronto's Terrence Ross made two free throws, the last of his 16 points, to finish the scoring.
"It was a big win," DeRozan said. "We finished ugly but we got a big win. We knew they were going to make a run but we were able to withstand it."

German star forward Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks (15-13) with 20 points and seven rebounds. He stands 10 points shy of passing Shaquille O'Neal for sixth on the NBA's all-time scoring list.

At Miami, Detroit sank 15 three-pointers and erased an early 18-point deficit to edge the Heat 93-92.

Reggie Jackson scored 18 points to lead the Pistons while Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Stanley Johnson each added 14 points and Steve Blake had 12, while Andre Drummond scored 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Chris Bosh scored 20 points, Dwyane Wade added 19 and Hassan Whiteside finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Heat, who fell to 16-11.

Wade and Bosh each missed jumpers in the closing seconds as Detroit hung on for the victory, the Pistons' fifth in six games.

- 76ers lose again -
At Denver, retiring Kobe Bryant matched his season high with 31 points to power the Los Angeles Lakers over the host Nuggets 111-107.

Bryant hit two free throws and a jumper in the final minute to secure the victory, with Denver fans chanting his name in the closing seconds.

The Lakers improved the worst record in the Western Conference to 5-23 and rose to 3-16 on the road this season. Denver fell to 11-17.

The Nuggets led by 21 points, their largest lead in any game this season, but were outscored 32-16 in the third quarter as the Lakers fought back.

At Philadelphia, Memphis center Marc Gasol scored 19 points and added six rebounds and five assists while guard Mike Conley added 18 points and six assists as the visiting Grizzlies ripped the host 76ers 104-90.

The 76ers suffered their 11th loss in a row and have the worst 30-game start in NBA history at 1-29. Rookie center Jahlil Okafor led Philadelphia with 18 points. The 76ers turned the ball over 28 times, resulting in 36 Memphis points, and missed 11 of 32 free throws.
Source: AFP